we do have a new congress coming back in. we keep talking about the so-called fiscal cliff. there are consequences for inaction if that countdown clock gets to zero and there's no deal and no deal has been reached. >> jonathan, thank you. to your point, it's remarkable to me that what we're debating is exactly what we were debating six months ago. it's not as though something has happened recently. this is the debate we've been having or the debate we haven't been having making it all the more remarkable that we have a countdown clock for it. thank you. >> that's right. >> a deal on the fiscal cliff may be at hand, but there's still a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. delaware democratic senator chris kuhns. thank you for taking the time. i want to talk about something first that your colleague tom hashi harken said on the senate floor. let's come back and talk about it. >> it looks like all of the taxes will be made permanent, but all of the other things that the middle class and america really depends on. one year or two years at the most, but the tax system is ma